New at picking

[PR wonderbread]

Hay this is gong to sound a little weard but i just got a set of picks and i dont know were to start i read the online mit guide and i still have a few questions like WHat pick do i use and how do i know whick one and instead of pushing pins one by one why cant you push all of them up at the same time and put tention and move all of them up and down at the same time wouldent that move all the needed pieces ubove the sheer line?

[Mephisto]

Run on sentences suck to read, my friend. Punctuation rocks.

The best thing I did for myself in learning to pick was buying a cheap deadbolt and disassembling it, then putting it back together with only two pins, adding more as your skill increases. Trying to manipulate five pins from the very beginning is too difficult and will lead to much anger, frustration,cursing, breaking of nearby household appliances and leave you curled up in a ball on the floor, sobbing like a little girl. Well, that's what happened to me, anyway. Guides on how to take apart a lock are all over this site.

Use whatever pick fits into the keyway the easiest and learn to pick pin by pin. I find this to be the most gratifying method of opening a lock. Raking is well and good, but manipulating the pins one at a time is the truest test of pick-fu. Do all that and keep reading.

[Wade]

Run on sentences suck to read, my friend. Punctuation rocks.

The best thing I did for myself in learning to pick was buying a cheap deadbolt and disassembling it, then putting it back together with only two pins, adding more as your skill increases. Trying to manipulate five pins from the very beginning is too difficult and will lead to much anger, frustration,cursing, breaking of nearby household appliances and leave you curled up in a ball on the floor, sobbing like a little girl. Well, that's what happened to me, anyway. Guides on how to take apart a lock are all over this site.

Use whatever pick fits into the keyway the easiest and learn to pick pin by pin. I find this to be the most gratifying method of opening a lock. Raking is well and good, but manipulating the pins one at a time is the truest test of pick-fu. Do all that and keep reading.

[paku]

I am new also and just got my pick set about 2-3 weeks ago... Baisicly i had the same question but found that you will learn from experiance... a couple tips i have noticed... please anyone lemme know if they have found the same to be true.

Kwikset loves Snake Rakes... try it, its almost like haveing a key lol
Masterlock #5 and lesser models also love the snake rake.
Schlage doesnt like to be raked by me =/ but the small hook is great.

For picking just use the small hook on everything untill you get a feel for it. I have a schlage dead bolt, 2 Kwikset deadbolts, generic walmart deadbolt (just like a kwikset) Masterlock 140, #5 and a Masterlock 230. The only think i havent been able to pick so far is the ML230. So get a feel for the small hook with everything and try the rake~ you will learn what picks to use with what lock with experiance.

The key is the tension you use. Try out a few things.